Carbon sequestration along a gradient of tidal marsh degradation in response to sea level rise

Abstract. Tidal marshes are considered one of the world's most efficient ecosystems for belowground organic carbon sequestration and hence climate mitigation. Marsh systems are however also vulnerable to degradation due to climate-induced sea level rise, whereby marsh vegetation conversion to open water often follows distinct spatial patterns: levees (i.e. marsh zones 30 m from creeks). Here, we use sediment cores to investigate spatial variations in organic carbon accumulation rates (OCAR) in a microtidal system (Blackwater marshes, Maryland, USA): (1) across a gradient of marsh zones with increasing marsh degradation, assessed as increasing ratio of unvegetated versus vegetated marsh area and (2) by comparing levees versus basins. We show that OCAR is up to four times higher on marsh levees than in adjacent basins. The data suggest that this is caused by spatial variation in three processes: sediment accretion rate, vegetation productivity, and sediment compaction, which are all higher on levees. Additionally, OCAR was observed to increase with increasing degree of marsh degradation in response to sea level rise. We hypothesize this may be due to more soil waterlogging in more degraded marsh zones, which may decrease carbon decomposition. Our results highlight that tidal marsh levees, in a microtidal system, are among the fastest soil organic carbon sequestration systems on Earth, and that both levees and basins sustain their carbon accumulation rate along gradients of increasing marsh degradation in response to sea level rise.